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introduction

what everyonewants to know

about leadership

We’ve been traveling the world for three

decades now, constantly researching the

practices of exemplary leadership and

the qualities people look for and admire in the

leaders they would willingly follow. During and after

our seminars and presentations, people ask us a lot of

different questions, but there’s always one thing that

they all want to know: ‘‘What’s new?’’

No matter the age of the audience, the type of organi-

zations they come from, or their nationalities, everyone

wants to know what’s changed since we first started

studying leadership. They want to know how things are

different now compared to how they were five, ten,

twenty, or thirty years ago. So we tell them.

xi

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xii Introduction

We tell them how the context of leadership has

changed dramatically since we first asked people in the

early 1980s to tell us about their personal best leadership

experiences and about their most admired leaders. For

example, we talk about how global terrorism has height-

ened uncertainty as political landscapes have changed.

How global warming and scarcity of natural resources

have made regions of the world unstable and created the

need for more sustainable products and lifestyles. How

the global economy has increased marketplace competi-

tion in the neighborhood and around the world and how

financial institutions have exploded, imploded, and risen

like phoenixes from the ashes. How the always-on, 24/7,

click-away new technologies have both connected and

isolated people, as their capacity for speed cranks up the

world’s pace.

We describe how the workforce has also changed

from what previous generations knew, becoming increas-

ingly diverse, multicultural, dispersed, horizontal, and

distributed—and, consequently, requiring more collab-

oration than competition. We (and other writers) have

explored how nationality and culture matter in ways that

require greater sensitivity to interpersonal relationships,

how the days of a homogeneous workforce are over,

and how the newest generation to enter the workforce

(the Millennials) place fresh demands on their organiza-

tions (but, of course, so did the Gen-Xers, Boomers, and

Traditionalists before them).

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Introduction xiii

Bob Dylan’s song ‘‘The Times They Are A-Changin’’’

continues to get airtime.

But we also tell them something else. We tell our

audiences that as much as the context of leadership

has changed, the content of leadership has not changed

much at all. The fundamental behaviors, actions, and

practices of leaders have remained essentially the same

since we first began researching and writing about lead-

ership over three decades ago. Much has changed, but

there’s a whole lot more that’s stayed the same.

EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOWTHE TRUTH ABOUT LEADERSHIP

Initially we set out to write a new book aimed squarely at

emerging leaders in the Millennial generation. Millenni-

als are an influential group and on the cusp of replacing

Baby Boomers as a game-changing force due to their size

and position. Now that Millennials are entering organi-

zations in increasingly large numbers, many leaders with

whom we work are sensing a noticeable shift in their

workplaces, forcing them to reconsider their leadership

practices. They’ve grown intensely curious about gener-

ational differences, and they’ve kept asking our advice

on how they and their young colleagues should lead in

these changing times. Since we’ve worked with college

students and young leaders throughout our careers and

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xiv Introduction

have had a lot of first-hand experience with generational

issues, we thought we could make a contribution to the

growing literature on the subject. (And we were more

than likely influenced by the fact that we’re also parents

of Millennials.)

So we did what we’ve done in the past, as all good

researchers and academics do: We conducted a study and

gathered data. We brought together several focus groups

of Millennials and explored their life experiences, their

values, their perspectives on the world, and what they

wanted to know about leadership that would better pre-

pare them for their place and responsibility in the world.

We expanded our research to include a broader sample

of Millennials, and we presented them with the follow-

ing scenario: ‘‘Imagine you’re sitting in a meeting with

a group of your colleagues. The door to the conference

room opens. In walks someone you’ve never met before,

and that person says, ‘Hi, I’m your new leader.’ What

questions immediately come to mind that you want to

ask this person?’’

As we reviewed the questions Millennials wanted to

ask a new leader, an important insight emerged. We

found that their concerns and issues were not all that

different from those we’d heard from their older sisters

and brothers, and even their moms and dads when they’d

responded to the same question. They wanted to know

what every other generation wanted to know. Age made

no difference.

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Introduction xv

This observation was powerfully reinforced when we

analyzed the most current data from the Leadership Prac-

tices Inventory, our 360-degree leadership assessment

tool. Looking at data from over a million respondents,

we discovered that age makes no difference in explaining

why leaders are effective or ineffective. When it comes

to generating positive work attitudes, it doesn’t matter

whether you’re a Traditionalist, a Boomer, a Gen-Xer, or

a Millennial. Good leadership is good leadership, regard-

less of age. It became very apparent once again that the

context of leading may change a lot, but the content of

leading changes very little.

At about this same time we were deeply honored and

humbled to learn that the American Society for Train-

ing and Development (ASTD) was going to present us

with their annual award for Distinguished Contribution

to Workplace Learning and Performance. The award is

given, they said, ‘‘in recognition of an exceptional con-

tribution of sustained impact to the field of learning and

performance.’’ It was presented to us at the 2009 Annual

ASTD Conference and Expo, and we were asked to con-

duct an educational session based on our work. In light of

the career-spanning nature of the award, we thought it’d

be appropriate to craft a presentation around ideas that

we’d been developing, talking about, and writing about

since the beginning of our collaboration and research. As

we culled through our decades of research, interviews,

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xvi Introduction

and data, we found a few kernels of lasting truth, and we

entitled our presentation ‘‘Enduring Leadership Truths.’’

As is customary at these kinds of conferences, par-

ticipants were asked to complete an evaluation of the

session. We were a bit nervous about how folks would

receive a ‘‘retrospective’’ on our work. After all, this

was a group of experienced and seasoned training and

development professionals, and sometimes they can be a

critical crowd. But we were pleasantly surprised by the

feedback we received, particularly the responses to one

item. Everyone (yes, 100 percent of the audience) agreed

with the statement: ‘‘I learned something from this pre-

sentation that was new and I can use.’’ To us, these truths

were foundational, critical, but not necessarily new. But

when presented on their own, without fads or fanfare,

leaders and trainers alike found them fresh and useful. It

caused us to think that perhaps there was a need for a

book that would make a few bold statements about what

research has shown to be true about leadership over the

years. And that perhaps, when presented in this way, this

would be a new and refreshing look at the topic.

We’re reminded of a time we shared the platform

with renowned leadership educator Ken Blanchard at

an association meeting. In the middle of responding

to an audience question one of us was saying, ‘‘I don’t

know what you call something that’s been the same

for twenty-five years, but. . . ,’’ and Ken interrupted,

exclaiming, ‘‘I’d call it the truth.’’ It was a moment of

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Introduction xvii

clarity. We began to see that we shouldn’t be shy about

saying that some things about leadership just don’t

change that much over time, if at all, and that those things

need to be understood for what they are—the truth.

After the ASTD experience, it became readily appar-

ent to us that we should write a book that focuses not

so much on anything new, but rather speaks directly

to what endures and is timeless. While context changes,

while global and personal circumstances change, the fun-

damentals of leadership do not. We thought it was just

as important in these changing times to remind people

of what endures as it was to talk about what has been

disrupted.

We wanted to make certain that the lessons we

included not only withstood the test of time but also

withstood the scrutiny of statistics. So we sifted through

the reams of data that had piled up over three decades

and isolated those nuggets that were soundly supported

by the numbers. This is a collection of the real thing—no

fads, no myths, no trendy responses—just truths that

endure.

This book reveals the most important things that

we’ve learned since we began our collaboration. It’s

a collection of fundamental principles that inform and

support the practices of leadership. These are lessons

that were true thirty years ago, are true today, and we

believe will be true thirty years from now. They speak to

what the newest and youngest leaders need to appreciate

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xviii Introduction

and understand, and they speak just as meaningfully

to the oldest leaders, who are perhaps re-purposing

themselves as they transition from their lengthy careers

to other pursuits in volunteer, community, or public

sectors. Entrepreneurs need to appreciate what we have

learned, just as do people leading established enterprises.

These lessons ring true on athletic fields and in the halls

of government, and they make as much sense in the

United States, China, Brazil, the European Union, India,

or any other global address that you can imagine.

This book does not pretend to be an exhaustive list of

everything you ever wanted to know about leadership.

There are other truths that we are likely to uncover. In

the last two years alone we’ve analyzed over one million

responses to our Leadership Practices Inventory from

over seventy countries. That’s a lot of data points. We’ve

just scratched the surface of our own data, let alone

the research from others, and the evidence continues

to mount.

For those who have read our prior works, some

of this may sound familiar. It should. But three things

make this book different from our previous ones. First,

this is a bolder book. We’re taking a stand that our

research supports each and every claim. Second, it’s

based on data we didn’t have when we wrote our other

books. Over the past few years we’ve been able to

accumulate a lot more information and a lot more cases.

Third, it’s a more global and a more cross-generational

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Introduction xix

book. The stories and examples we share come from

around the world and encompass three generations of

leaders. We know that you’ll be the judge, but if you’ve

read our other works we still think you’ll find many new

and useful insights among these enduring truths.

The truths we’ve written about in this book are things

you can count on. They are realities of leadership that will

help you to think, decide, and act more effectively. They

provide lessons that will sustain you in your personal and

professional development. They are truths that address

what is real about leadership.

TEN TRUTHS ABOUTLEADERSHIP

In this book we’ll explore ten fundamental truths about

leadership and becoming an effective leader. We write

with the perspective of an emerging leader—someone

new in the role or making the transition to leadership for

the first time—but the ideas are just as relevant to those

with years of leadership experience. They apply to

those who are continuing to hone their skills and to those

who’ve had no prior training. They are also relevant to

those who want to be more capable in coaching others

to be more effective leaders.

The first truth is that You Make a Difference. It is

the most fundamental truth of all. Before you can lead,

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xx Introduction

you have to believe that you can have a positive impact

on others. You have to believe in yourself. That’s where

it all begins. Leadership begins when you believe you

can make a difference.

The second truth is that Credibility Is the Foun-

dation of Leadership. You have to believe in you, but

others have to believe in you, too. What does it take

for others to believe in you? Short answer: Credibility.

We’ve said it many times, but we need to say it again,

especially in these times when people have become cyn-

ical about their leaders and institutions: If people don’t

believe in you, they won’t willingly follow you.

The third truth is that Values Drive Commitment.

People want to know what you stand for and believe

in. They want to know what you value. And leaders

need to know what others value if they are going to be

able to forge alignments between personal values and

organizational demands.

The fourth truth is that Focusing on the Future Sets

Leaders Apart. The capacity to imagine and articulate

exciting future possibilities is a defining competence of

leaders. You have to take the long-term perspective. Gain

insight from reviewing your past and develop outsight

by looking around.

You Can’t Do It Alone is the fifth truth. No leader

ever got anything extraordinary done without the talent

and support of others. Leadership is a team sport, and you

need to engage others in the cause. What strengthens and

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Introduction xxi

sustains the relationship between leader and constituent

is that leaders are obsessed with what is best for others,

not what is best for themselves.

Trust Rules is the sixth truth. If you can’t do it

alone and have to rely on others, what’s needed to make

that happen? Trust. Trust is the social glue that holds

individuals and groups together. And the level of trust

others have in you will determine the amount of influence

you have. You have to earn your constituents’ trust before

they’ll be willing to trust you. That means you have to

give trust before you can get trust.

The seventh truth is that Challenge Is the Crucible

for Greatness. Exemplary leaders—the kind of lead-

ers people want to follow—are always associated with

changing the status quo. Great achievements don’t hap-

pen when you keep things the same. Change invariably

involves challenge, and challenge tests you. It introduces

you to yourself. It brings you face-to-face with your

level of commitment, your grittiness, and your values. It

reveals your mindset about change.

Truth number eight reminds you that You Either

Lead by Example or You Don’t Lead at All. Leaders

have to keep their promises and become role models

for the values and actions they espouse. You have to go

first as a leader. You can’t ask others to do something

you aren’t willing to do yourself. Moreover, you have

to be willing to admit mistakes and be able to learn

from them.

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xxii Introduction

Truth number nine is that The Best Leaders Are

the Best Learners. You have to believe that you (and

others) can learn to lead, and that you can become

a better leader tomorrow than you are today. Leaders

are constant improvement fanatics, and learning is the

master skill of leadership. Learning, however, takes time

and attention, practice and feedback, along with good

coaching. It also takes willingness on your part to ask for

support.

The tenth truth is that Leadership Is an Affair

of the Heart. It could also be the first truth. Leaders

are in love with their constituents, their customers and

clients, and the mission that they are serving. Leaders

make others feel important and are gracious in showing

their appreciation. Love is the motivation that energizes

leaders to give so much for others. You just won’t work

hard enough to become great if you aren’t doing what

you love.

YOU MATTER

As we do in all of our writings and presentations, we

endeavor to make our ideas accessible—easy to under-

stand and simple to translate into action—and we

continue to provide encouragement for getting started

on the path of becoming a better leader. Doing so begins

with you, your desire and commitment. We have never

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Introduction xxiii

said it would be easy. We both know from our own

personal experiences,—and humbling ones at times at

times-- that it is much easier to write about leadership

than it is to practice leadership.

This isn’t a ‘‘How To’’ or ‘‘Made Easy’’ or ‘‘For

Dummies’’ approach to leadership—it is a book about

fundamentals. And fundamentals are the necessary build-

ing blocks to greatness. You can’t fast-track your way to

excellence. Leadership is a demanding, noble discipline

not to be entered into frivolously or casually. It requires

an elevated sense of mastery. And, you can do it. It’s a

matter of technique, of skill, of practice. It’s also a matter

of desire and commitment.

There are enduring truths about leadership. You

can gain mastery over the art and science of leadership

by understanding them and attending to them in your

workplace and everyday life.

As always, we thank you for taking the time to

consider our ideas. We are joined in a common cause

with you to increase the quantity and the effectiveness

of leaders in the world. The truth is that we need your

exemplary leadership now more than ever.

James M. Kouzes

Barry Z. Posner

July 2010

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Kouzes fm.tex V2 - 05/27/2010 10:30pm Page xxv

THE TRUTHABOUT

LEADERSHIP

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Kouzes c01.tex V1 - 05/28/2010 10:35pm Page 1

truth one

you makea difference

Everything you will ever do as a leader is based

on one audacious assumption. It’s the assumption

that you matter.

Before you can lead others, you have to lead yourself

and believe that you can have a positive impact on others.

You have to believe that your words can inspire and your

actions can move others. You have to believe that what

you do counts for something. If you don’t, you won’t

even try. Leadership begins with you.

The Truth Is That You Make a Difference. It is

not a question of ‘‘Will I make a difference?’’ Rather, it’s

‘‘What difference will I make?’’ Consider the experience

of Melissa Poe.1

In 1989 Melissa, then a fourth-grader in Nashville,

Tennessee, became very concerned about the natural

1

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2 The Truth About Leadership

environment and the kind of world she and her friends

might live in if people didn’t start paying attention to their

everyday actions. After seeing a television program about

pollution that portrayed a very scary future, Melissa asked

the question, ‘‘Will the future be a safe place to live in

when I get older?’’2 She decided she had to do something

about it. That night she wrote a letter to President George

Bush, Sr., asking him to help stop pollution. At the time,

Melissa believed the only way to stop pollution was

to get everyone involved and that the only way to get

everyone involved was to get someone everyone listened

to involved.

For twelve weeks she didn’t hear back, but Melissa

knew the pollution problem wouldn’t wait. So she started

to do other things to get people’s attention. At home

Melissa and her family started recycling, turning lights

and faucets off when they weren’t in use, and planting

trees. She wrote more letters to more politicians such as

her local mayor, congressmen, and senators. She called

up the local television station and did an on-camera com-

mentary. She wrote to her newspaper. She did everything

she could think of to help get people’s attention.

Melissa also started a club called Kids F.A.C.E. (Kids

For a Clean Environment) so that her friends, who’d been

asking how they could help, could do projects together

like writing letters, planting trees, and picking up litter.

‘‘We knew we were doing small things, but we also knew

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You Make a Difference 3

it took a bunch of small things to make a big difference,’’

she told us.

When she still hadn’t heard back from the President

after several weeks, Melissa, realizing he was a busy

man, felt she needed to do more to get him to see

her letter. She decided to make her letter bigger so he

couldn’t miss it. She called a local billboard company

in her hometown of Nashville and asked whether they

would put a billboard up with her letter to the President.

The company donated the billboard to Melissa. However,

Melissa knew the President would not see her billboard

unless it was in Washington, D.C., where the President

lived. Again, she called her local billboard company to

ask for help. While they couldn’t put up a billboard in

Washington, D.C., they were able to connect Melissa to

another billboard company that could. In a matter of six

months, over 250 billboards were put up all over the

United States, including at least one in each state and one

just a mile from the White House.

Almost immediately, Melissa began receiving letters

from other kids who were as concerned as she was about

the environment. They wanted to help. By the time

she finally received a response from the President—a

disappointing form letter—she no longer needed the

help of someone famous to get her message across.

Melissa had found within herself the personal power to

inspire others to become involved and make a difference.

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In January, just six months after she began her journey

to get people’s attention about the environment, Melissa

appeared on the Today show to tell her story. It is here

that Kids F.A.C.E. grew from a local club to a national

organization. Membership swelled. As the organization

grew, Melissa’s first Kids F.A.C.E. project, a recycling

program at her school, led to a manual full of ideas on

how to clean up the environment. Then there were other

challenges over the years, such as the One in a Million

campaign, a successful project that engaged over one

million kids to plant one million trees by 2000.

Starting with just six members at her elementary

school, Kids F.A.C.E. grew to more than two thousand

club chapters in twenty-two countries and more than

350,000 members during the time Melissa was president.

(Today there are 500,000 members.) At age seventeen,

she stepped aside, joined the board, and handed over the

reins to two fifteen-year-olds, saying she was too old for

the job. She wanted the organization to always be in kids’

hands so that there was always a club for kids and by kids.

WHATEVER YOU NEEDYOU ALREADY HAVE

Is Melissa a leader? Can someone at age nine or seven-

teen demonstrate the practices of exemplary leadership?

Aren’t those abilities reserved for people mainly in senior

positions in big-time organizations?

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Yes, yes, and no. Yes, Melissa is a leader. Yes, you

can demonstrate leadership at any age. No, leadership

is not about some position in an organization and clearly

not just for those in senior positions.

Too often images of who’s a leader and who’s not are

all mixed up in preconceived notions about what lead-

ership is and is not. Conventional wisdom portrays

leadership as something found mostly at the top. Myth

and legend treat leadership as if it were the private

reserve of a very few charismatic men and women. Noth-

ing is further from the truth. Leadership is much more

broadly distributed in the population, and it’s accessible

to anyone who has passion and purpose to change the

way things are.

Fast-forward now to June 4, 2009, twenty years after

Melissa Poe wrote that letter to the President of the

United States. On that night Melissa Poe Hood—she’s

grown up now, graduated from college, married, and

is working—received the Women of Distinction Award

from the American Association of University Women

(AAUW) and the National Association of Student Per-

sonnel Administrators (NASPA). In acknowledging the

honor, here’s the advice she gave the college women

student leaders in the audience:

Change does not begin with someone else. Change

begins in your own backyard, no matter your

age or your size. I had no idea that one simple

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action could change my life so much. Most

journeys start this way, with simple motivation

and a choice to do something or not. You never

know where one step will take you, and you

never know where the next one will lead. The

difference with being a leader is that you take

the step; you take the journey. The greatest

obstacle you will ever encounter is yourself. Just

like Dorothy never knew that she always had

the ticket home, the Scarecrow always had a

brain, the Tin Man always had a compassionate

heart, even the Cowardly Lion had courage.

Everything you need to be a successful leader

you already have: your intelligence to see an

issue and a way to fix it, your heart to stay

motivated, and your courage not to give up.

You can’t look for the man behind the curtain

to solve your concerns. Everything you need

you already have. It’s all about taking the

first step.3

Melissa’s message shines the spotlight on the first

enduring leadership truth. You don’t have to look up for

leadership. You don’t have to look out for leadership.

You only have to look inward. You have the potential to

lead others to places they have never been before. A nine-

year-old Melissa looked inward and found a leader. You

can do the same. Leadership begins with you.

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LEADER ROLE MODELSARE LOCAL

We’ve been gathering stories about personal best lead-

ership experiences, including this one from Melissa, for

three decades. The people we’ve talked to come from

every type of organization, public and private, govern-

ment and NGO, high-tech and low-tech, small and large,

schools and professional services. They are young and

old, male and female, and from every ethnic group.

They represent every imaginable vocation and avoca-

tion. They reside all over the globe. Leaders are found

everywhere. Demographics play no role in whether or

not someone is going to become an exemplary leader.

After examining the immense variety of stories from

so many different people and places, it has also become

crystal clear that leadership is not a birthright. It’s not

about position or title. It’s not about power or authority.

It’s not about celebrity or wealth. It’s not about being a

CEO, president, general, or prime minister. It’s not about

being a superstar. And it’s most assuredly not about some

charismatic gift.

Over the last couple of years, we analyzed data

from over a million people around the globe to assess

the practices of leaders. The numbers reveal that the

behavior of leaders explains more about why people

feel engaged and positive about their workplaces than

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any particular individual or organizational characteristic.

Factors like age, gender, ethnicity, function, position,

nationality, organizational size, industry, tenure, and

education together account for less than 1 percent of

the reason that people feel productive, motivated, ener-

gized, effective, and committed in their workplaces. The

leaders’ behaviors, on the other hand, explain nearly

25 percent of the reason.4 Leadership is not about

who you are or where you come from. It’s about what

you do.

When we first reported on Melissa’s story in 1993,

we had no idea that in 2009 she’d be a Woman of

Distinction. Neither did she. But Melissa knew then, and

she knows now, that leadership begins with taking that

first step.

Here’s something else to consider. For a long time

now we’ve been asking people about the leader role

models in their own lives. Not well-known historical

leaders, but leaders with whom they’ve had personal

experience. We’ve asked them to identify the person

they’d select as their most important role model for

leadership, and then we’ve given them a list of eight pos-

sible categories from which these leaders might come.

They can choose from business leader, community or

religious leader, entertainer or Hollywood star, family

member, political leader, professional athlete, teacher

or coach, or other/none/not sure. Take a look at the

results.5

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Data on Leader Role Models

Role Model Category Respondent Age Category

18 to 30 Over 30

Family member 40% 46%

Teacher or coach 26% 14%

Community or religious 11% 8%

Business leader 7% 23%

Political leader 4% 4%

Professional athlete 3% 0%

Entertainer 2% 0%

None/not sure/other 7% 4%

Regardless of whether one is under or over thirty

years of age, when thinking back over their lives and

selecting their most important leader role models, people

are more likely to choose a family member than anyone

else. Mom and Dad, it turns out, are the most influential

leaders after all. In second place, for respondents thirty

years of age and under, is a teacher or coach, and the

third spot goes to a, community or religious leader. For

the over-thirty crowd, a, business leader is number two.

But when we probe further, people tell us that a, business

leader really means the person who was an immediate

supervisor at work, not someone in the C-suite. In third

position is a, teacher or coach. And in the fourth spot are

community and religious leaders.

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What do you notice about the top groups on the

list? You should notice that they’re the people you know

well and who know you well. They’re the leaders you

are closest to and who are closest to you. They’re the

ones with whom you have the most intimate contact.

And they’re the people you meet early in your lives. If

you’re in a role that brings you into contact with young

people on a regular basis—say a parent, teacher, coach,

or counselor—keep this observation in mind. Someone

is looking to you right now for leadership.

Notice also how few people find leader role models

among those who get all the media attention. No more

than 4 percent look up to politicians, professional ath-

letes, or entertainers as their leader role models. You

can’t measure leadership in column inches or Google

search results. You can’t measure it in bling, entourages,

or gold medals. You can’t measure it in fame or fortune.

You measure it by the actions people you know take

that cause you to look to them for guidance along the

important journeys in your life.

Leader role models are local. You find them close to

where you live and work.

YOU ARE THE MOSTIMPORTANT LEADER

You also definitely find leader role models ‘‘close to

home’’ in your organization. The media, and many lead-

ership gurus, focus a lot of attention on people at the top

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of organizations—founders, CEOs, generals, presidents,

and the like. They make it seem as if these top dogs

are the only ones responsible for everything that’s great,

and everything that’s lousy, about organizations. It’s a

subtle thing, but it perpetuates the trickle-down theory

of leadership: all things start at the top and trickle down

to the bottom. But, when you actually look at the data,

you see a very different picture.

The leader who has the most impact on your day-to-

day behavior is, in fact, not the CEO, the COO, the CFO,

or any other C—unless, of course, you report directly to

that person. The leader who has the most influence over

your desire to stay or leave, your commitment to the

organization’s vision and values, your ethical decisions

and actions, your treatment of customers, your ability to

do your job well, and the direction of your career, to name

but a few outcomes, is your most immediate manager.

We’ve been tracking the impact leaders have on

their constituents and the organization for many years.

As we’ve already mentioned, we’ve analyzed data from

well over a million respondents, and hundreds of other

researchers have used our model and the Leadership

Practices Inventory6 to gather data from thousands more.

The findings from all these studies point to one very

clear conclusion: Managers, volunteers, pastors, govern-

ment administrators, military officers, teachers, school

principals, students, and other leaders who use The

Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership® are seen more

frequently by others as better leaders.

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For example, they:

• More successfully meet job-related demands

• More effectively represent their units to upper

management

• Create higher-performing teams

• Increase sales and customer satisfaction levels

• Foster renewed loyalty and greater organizational

commitment

• Increase motivation and the willingness to work hard

• Facilitate high patient satisfaction scores and meet

family member needs

• Promote high degrees of involvement and engage-

ment in schools

• Enlarge the size of their congregations

• Expand fundraising results and gift-giving levels

• Extend the range of their agencies’ services

• Reduce absenteeism, turnover, and dropout rates

• Positively influence recruitment rates

• Earn higher scores on measures of leader credibility

Additionally, people working with leaders who dem-

onstrate The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership® are

significantly more satisfied with the actions and strategies

of their leaders; they feel more committed, excited,

energized, influential, and powerful; and they are more

productive. In other words, the more you engage in the

practices of exemplary leadership, the more likely it is

that you’ll have a positive influence on others in the

organization.

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All this means that, if you’re a manager, to your

direct reports you are the most important leader in the

organization. You have much more impact than your

CEO on your direct reports’ day-to-day performance.

And, if that’s the case, isn’t it your responsibility to be

the best leader you can be? You are accountable for the

leadership you demonstrate.

THE FIVE PRACTICES OFEXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP®

The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership is the model of best-

practices leadership that emerged from our research.7 These five

‘‘practices’’ (not ‘‘laws’’ or ‘‘principles’’) are

1. Model the Way

2. Inspire a Shared Vision

3. Challenge the Process

4. Enable Others to Act

5. Encourage the Heart

And even if you are not in a management position,

there is really no escape. No matter what your position

is, you have to take responsibility for the quality of

leadership people experience. No one made Melissa Poe

the leader. She took personal responsibility for doing

something about a serious problem she recognized and

started leading. No one can make you a leader, either.

You have to take that first step for yourself. You have to

be willing to take actions that others will want to follow.

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After all, if you aren’t willing to follow yourself, why

would anyone else want to?

Also keep in mind that you have the chance to truly

change a life. As the author Marianne Williamson has

written:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our

deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond mea-

sure. It is our light, not our darkness that most

frightens us. . . . Your playing small does not serve

the world. There is nothing enlightened about

shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure

around you. . . . And as we let our own light shine,

we unconsciously give other people permission

to do the same. As we are liberated from our own

fear, our presence automatically liberates others.8

You have the chance to make the world a better

place as a result of what you do. What could be more re-

warding than that?

The Truth Is That You Make a Difference. Some-

where, sometime, the leader within you may get the call

to step forward—for the school, the congregation, the

community, the agency, the company, the union, or the

family. By believing in yourself and in your capacity to

lead, you open yourself to hearing the call. You open

yourself to making a difference in the world.

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